Morgantown to fill key losses with rising talent

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Morgantown will have a new look in the 2014 football season as the Mohigans have to replace their offensive line and Kennedy Award winning running back Chazzy Thomas – losses that would scream ‘rebuilding year’ for many programs.

But that may not be entirely the case for the Mohigans.

“A lot of people would think we would be in rebuilding mode or something like that,” said Morgantown coach John Bowers. “But we think we have a lot of gifted ball carriers and very talented linemen – people just don’t know about them yet, they’re younger kids.

“Our JV’s were excellent and our freshmen were undefeated – so we think we have some kids,” he continued. “We’re a little green – even our seniors are kind of green, because they haven’t been in the fire much. But I think as the season progresses, we’ll be a lot better at the end than we were at the beginning.”

The 2013 campaign ended in disappointment for Bowers’ club as Morgantown fell to rival University to end the regular season, and then followed that up with another loss to the Hawks in the opening round of the playoffs.

What was a powerful Morgantown offense for much of the year, sputtered down the stretch as multiple injuries plagued the Mohigans.

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“The kids really used what happened at the end of the year as motivation,” Bowers said. “We’ve had a tremendous offseason and I look for a more ‘tenacious’ football team — let’s just say that.”

One of the returnees from that 2013 club is senior tight end and WVU commitment Stone Wolfley. His brother Maverick, who also is a WVU commitment, will head into his sophomore campaign for the Mohigans at running back and linebacker – he received significant playing time in Morgantown’s playoff loss to University.

Also back for Morgantown will be rising seniors Shea Campbell and 6-foot-3 Dylan Anderson.

“Shea Campbell is our best football player, for what he does,” Bowers said. “He may not be the most recruited kid, but he can play some Wildcat quarterback, running back, receiver and defensive back – Shea will be excellent. I think Dylan Anderson is as good of a linebacker as there is in the state, he had over 100 tackles last year and is receiving some MAC interest.

“I think we have some good players who are flying a little bit under the radar, which I’m all about,” Bowers said. “My nephew Garrett Cain is one of our receivers who had four touchdowns last year and he’s becoming more polished everyday.”

Senior quarterback Ethan Goldcamp returns as well, along with junior signal caller Zayne Hern.

“We have two really good quarterbacks,” Bowers said. “And then we have a young kid (sophomore) in Ben Waibogha. We don’t know what he is yet – he’s a quarterback/defensive back/wide receiver athlete. Those are just a couple of names to watch out for.”

More: Expectations unwavering for 4-time Class AAA defending champ Martinsburg

Besides the MoHawk Bowl, the Mohigans will host Martinsburg in late September and have intriguing road matchups at Washington, Wheeling Park and Class AA power Wayne.

“We have a tough schedule,” Bowers said. “I’ll put our schedule up against anybody. The trip to Wayne will be a great opportunity for our kids to go into a great high school football setting.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Tom Harmon and his football program, he’s won so many games. Those guys will just punch you right in the mouth,” he continued. “I’m looking forward to it – we’ll go down there and see what we’re made of.”

MORGANTOWN
2014 Football Schedule
08/29/14 07:30PM  H  ANACOSTIA DC H.S.   
09/05/14 07:30PM  A  BROOKE   
09/12/14 07:30PM  H  PARKERSBURG SOUTH   
09/19/14 07:30PM  A  WASHINGTON   
09/26/14 07:30PM  H  MARTINSBURG   
10/03/14 07:30PM  A  WAYNE   
10/10/14 07:30PM  A  WHEELING PARK   
10/17/14 07:30PM  A  MUSSELMAN   
10/24/14 07:30PM  H  JOHN MARSHALL   
10  10/31/14 07:30PM  H  UNIVERSITY   
 wins: 0   lost: 0   ties: 0




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